Different individuals exhibit different hearing sensitivities. This is due to the fact that the frequency response of individual ears, corresponding to the hearing sensitivity, is different for each individual. Accordingly, an audio device that may produce good results for one individual can produce poor results for another individual. For example, an expensive hi-fi stereo headphone can appear to produce good audio quality for one individual, while the same audio effect may not be perceived well by another individual. Even for the same individual, the left and the right ears can exhibit different frequency responses. Therefore, the same audio device may produce very different results for each ear of the same individual.
Conventional audio devices can utilize a narrow frequency range, frequency equalization or volume control to overcome these problems. For example, some communications devices can use a narrow audio bandwidth, for example between 300 Hertz and 3800 Hertz. However, if the hearing sensitivity of a user is poor within the audio bandwidth, the user may not be able to hear and/or communicate properly. Other audio devices, such as a portable MP3 player, a CD player or a mobile phone, can incorporate an audio equalizer to enhance sound quality by equalizing the frequency response of the speaker. However, the equalizer it is not able to equalize the hearing sensitivity of each individual user, limiting the effectiveness of the audio equalizer. Each individual user will still perceive the audio effect differently. Other audio devices, such as headsets, headphones, or mobile devices, utilize volume control in which a user can adjust the volume if the output sound level is not optimal for the user. Changing the volume can change the overall signal level accordingly. For example, increasing the volume can increase the overall signal level. However, the user may find that the sound that can already be heard becomes louder, but the sound that cannot be perceived remains unperceivable. Increasing the sound level further can lead to signal saturation, clipping or distortion due to the limited dynamic range of all such audio devices.
The above-described deficiencies of conventional acoustic sensing devices are merely intended to provide an overview of some of problems of current technology, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with the state of the art and corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.